Fintech Insights - US FedNow System to Launch Next Summer

The Federal Reserve has announced that the launch of FedNow will be mid-year 2023. FedNow is a payments service, designed by the Federal Reserve, aimed at enabling real-time payments for all financial institutions. It is a new payments rail in the US; an alternative to the already established RTP (Real Time Payments) which is part of the ACH (Automated Clearing House). The aim of FedNow is to increase accessibility for instant payment transfers between two bank accounts for both business and personal accounts. FedNow will be a true real-time payment, where money is transferred instantly, regardless of banking hours. FedNow officially launched its pilot programme in early 2021 with a high level of interest and engagement from 120 participating organisations.

Additionally, the service will enable financial institutions to have the ability to exchange information required to make debits and credits to customer accounts as well as notifying customers of payment status. FedNow will operate outside of the currently used RTP network, established in 2017 by The Clearing House. Effectively, the Federal Reserve has created FedNow to compete with the RTP network.